Green Pet Care - energy efficiency and reptile ownership.

[SteveB]

The fact that it has been many years since I was in school really shows in this article! This is a rough draft that I am presenting here for input and criticism. I could use a hand.
Let me know what your observations have been, in terms of the costs associated with reptile ownership and what you've done to make things more efficient and reduce cost of ownership. Have you switched heat sources, used a more insulated tank, started breeding feeders or growing fruits and vegetables. I want to hear from you guys.

http://www.e2macpets.com/Green-Pet-Care

If you have advice on how to better phrase various facts or better format the article, I'm up for that sort of input as well.

I plan to update this to address issues such as items that pose a problem in terms of toxicity (mercury vapor bulbs) or difficulty in recycling (ceramic heat emitters) and so on. I know we have members from all walks of life and all levels of commitment to this hobby/passion. I hope to raise awareness and generate discussion. Efforts to make our hobby more "green" can only benefit both our wallets (in the form of energy savings) and our public image. Hopefully it can benefit our animals as well!

Thank you for any input you can provide and I hope this subject has interested some of you and challenged you to consider the hobby from a different perspective!

 

[acpart]

I think this is a great idea for an article. As far as an article critique goes (I assume this is still a work in progress) it would be helpful to explain more of what you say. For example, why is heat cable more efficient than overhead heating and what data about wattage can you bring to support it? What is toxic about the materials you say are toxic? Also, the article doesn't really end yet and will need a conclusion.

Here are some other ideas, not all of which are for leopard geckos: looking at the life cycle of the pets and their byproducts to get the most use out of them: when I catch the inevitable grain moths, I throw them in my fish pond. I use the water I take out of my pond during water changes for my plants --it's good fertilizer. I feed my vegetable parings from cooking to the crickets and mealworms. As you mentioned, I breed mealworms and (unintentionally) crickets; I don't know if there's any potential for limited solar heating of cages but it's probably worth exploring.

Aliza

 

[SteveB]

Thank you Aliza. I originally was inspired to write this article to discuss incorporating recycling and vermicomposting into reptile ownership. Then I decided I might as well tackle as many 'green' topics as I could. I will be adding more information in the near future and will address the feedback I receive.